Coach takes boys out of the streets and away from mischief
ALEXANDRA - A grassroots football coach, Mahama Musah Arthur is seeking assistance to transport his aspiring Alex footballers for games and training sessions.
A grassroots football coach, Mahama Musah Arthur is seeking assistance to transport his aspiring Alex footballers for games and training sessions.
Arthur, of the Fairmont-based and registered non-profit company Help Academy Youth Development currently uses his sedan car to transport about 60 boys from Alexandra to his Monday to Thursday training sessions which start at 4;30pm and end at 6;30pm. He has been doing these trips everyday for the past 12 months of the inauguration of the academy.
Because of the size of his car, Arthur said he cannot fit all of the boys to make one trip and usually ends up making four or more trips to fetch the boys for training and another four or more trips to drop them back home after the sessions.
“The same happens whenever we have matches to play. I have to make several trips to fetch the boys and several trips again to return them after the match. This is digging too deep into my pocket, but I am prepared to take the knock for as long as I can, as it is the love of my life to work with young people and groom them for the future.
“I am the type of man who never gives up that easily in what I do or intend to do and accomplish. I am determined to make a success of this project, come hell or high water,” said Arthur who described his project as not just a football ambition on his part, but a much broader conviction of taking the children out of the streets and away from mischief.
Arthur said the transport situation for his boys was so desperate that at times he runs out of fuel, stops the car and makes a plan. “I often call my friends all the way from Yeoville to pour some fuel into the car so I can complete the trips of returning the boys home.”
Arthur (39), originally from Ghana but now holds South African citizenship, said the boys were like his children and he often jokes with them. “I am strict when it comes to our training sessions as I believe there is work to be done. I do the same to them when it comes to their school work and books. I always tell them that education comes first and everything else second, including the soccer training and nurturing that I give them.”
Details: Mahama Musah Arthur 078 670 0139 or 083 319 7907 or arthur@helpacademy.co.za
